Say Then, Ye Worms Of Earth

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Say then, ye worms of earth, to whom

Author: Charles Wesley
Tune: ST. CRISPIN
Published in 2 hymnals

Printable scores: PDF, Noteworthy Composer
Audio files: MIDI

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Representative Text

1 Say then, ye worms of earth, to whom
Will ye your glorious God compare?
Vainly thro’ all His works ye roam,
And find Jehovah’s likeness there.

2 The vile idolater belies
His image with a golden shrine,
To counterfeit the Godhead tries;
And stocks and stones become divine.

3 Man his own deity reveres
By self delight, and self esteem,
Whate’er the sinner hopes, or fears
Desires, or loves, is God to him.

4 But have ye not His being known,
And clearly seen by nature’s light?
Have not the ancient fathers shown,
And you confessed the Infinite?

5 The heavens His glorious power proclaim,
Th’invisible on earth is showed;
Nature is written with His name,
And all things speak their builder God.

6 Creation to His law submits,
His rule He over all maintains,
High on the globe of Heaven He sits,
And undisturbed for ever reigns.

7 Th’ inhabitants of earth from thence,
As grasshoppers His eye beholds;
His hand, and power, and providence
The curtain of the heavens unfolds.

8 ’Tis He who stretched them out, ’tis He
Who still the wide pavilion spreads,
That blue ethereal canopy,
And draws it o’er His creatures’ heads.

9 Princes and kings that dare withstand
Their uncontrolled Creator’s sway,
Shall sink behind His mighty hand,
And fall, and fade, and die away.

10 Planted awhile, or sown below,
Their stock accursed shall ne’er take root;
The Lord upon their pride shall blow,
Wither the flower, and blast the fruit.

11 Say then, ye abject worms, to whom
Will ye your glorious God compare?
Who shall His holiness presume
To match, or who His power shall dare?

12 Lift up your eyes to things on high,
Nor fix on earth your groveling thought;
Who built yon azure vaulted sky?
Who spoke those beauteous orbs from naught?

13 God only wise, and great, and strong,
Made them to run their heavenly race;
Knowledge and might to God belong,
Honor, and majesty and praise.

14 Their radiant hosts He marshals right,
Their nature, names and number knows;
He bids them in their courses fight,
And blast their great Creator’s foes.

15 They hear, and each His will performs,
And lo! to man they ever call,
"Lift up your eyes, ye abject worms,
Adore the glorious Cause of All!"

Source: The Cyber Hymnal #11104

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Author: Charles Wesley

Charles Wesley, M.A. was the great hymn-writer of the Wesley family, perhaps, taking quantity and quality into consideration, the great hymn-writer of all ages. Charles Wesley was the youngest son and 18th child of Samuel and Susanna Wesley, and was born at Epworth Rectory, Dec. 18, 1707. In 1716 he went to Westminster School, being provided with a home and board by his elder brother Samuel, then usher at the school, until 1721, when he was elected King's Scholar, and as such received his board and education free. In 1726 Charles Wesley was elected to a Westminster studentship at Christ Church, Oxford, where he took his degree in 1729, and became a college tutor. In the early part of the same year his religious impressions were much deepene… Go to person page >

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Text Information

Text Information

First Line:	Say then, ye worms of earth, to whom
Title:	Say Then, Ye Worms Of Earth
Author:	Charles Wesley
Meter:	8.8.8.8
Source:	Hymns and Sacred Poems, 1742
Language:	English
Copyright:	Public Domain

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Tune

ST. CRISPIN

Composed by George J. Elvey (PHH 48) in 1862 for 'Just as I Am, without One Plea" (263), ST. CRISPIN was first published in the 1863 edition of Edward Thorne's Selection of Psalm and Hymn Tunes. The tune title honors a third-century Roman martyr, Crispin, who, along with Crispinian, preached in Gaul…

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